[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 09/29/10
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Net-Gold -- Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold <Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MediaMentor <mediamentor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Digital Divide Diversity MLS <mls-digitaldivide@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sean Grigsby <myarchives1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <NetGold_general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:51:22 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:33:56 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 09/29/10
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2010, Issue No. 78
September 29, 2010
Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** BEHIND THE CENSORSHIP OF OPERATION DARK HEART
** INSPECTORS GENERAL TO HELP OVERSEE CLASSIFICATION
** GAO GAINS A FOOTHOLD IN INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT
BEHIND THE CENSORSHIP OF OPERATION DARK HEART
By censoring Anthony Shaffer's new book "Operation Dark Heart" even though
uncensored review copies are already available in the public domain, the
Department of Defense has produced a genuinely unique product: a revealing
snapshot of the way that the Obama Administration classifies national
security information in 2010.
With both versions before them, readers can see for themselves exactly what
the Pentagon classifiers wanted to withhold, and can judge for themselves
whether the secrecy they tried to impose can be justified on valid national
security grounds. In the majority of instances, the results of such an
inspection seem disappointing, if not very surprising, and they tend to
confirm the most skeptical view of the operation of the classification
system.
The most commonly repeated "redaction" in Operation Dark Heart is the
author's cover name, "Christopher Stryker," that he used while serving in
Afghanistan. Probably the second most common redactions are references to
the National Security Agency, its heaquarters location at Fort Meade,
Maryland, the familiar abbreviation SIGINT (referring to "signals
intelligence"), and offhand remarks like "Guys on phones were always great
sources of intel," which is blacked out on the bottom of page 56.
Also frequently redacted are mentions of the term TAREX or "Target
Exploitation," referring to intelligence collection gathered at a sensitive
site, and all references to low-profile organizations such as the Air Force
Special Activities Center and the Joint Special Operations Command, as well
as to foreign intelligence partners such as New Zealand. Task Force 121
gets renamed Task Force 1099. The code name Copper Green, referring to an
"enhanced" interrogation program, is deleted.
Perhaps 10% of the redacted passages do have some conceivable security
sensitivity, including the identity of the CIA chief of station in Kabul,
who has been renamed "Jacob Walker" in the new version, and a physical
description of the location and appearance of the CIA station itself, which
has been censored.
Many other redactions are extremely tenuous. The name of character actor
Ned Beatty is not properly classified in any known universe, yet it has been
blacked out on page 15 of the book. (It still appears intact in the Index.)
In short, the book embodies the practice of national security classification
as it exists in the United States today. It does not exactly command
respect.
A few selected pages from the original and the censored versions of
Operation Dark Heart have been posted side-by-side for easy comparison here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2010/09/dark-contrast.pdf
The New York Times reported on the Pentagon's dubious handling of the book
in "Secrets in Plain Sight in Censored Book's Reprint" by Scott Shane,
September 18:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/18/us/18book.html
INSPECTORS GENERAL TO HELP OVERSEE CLASSIFICATION
The House and Senate this week approved legislation that will require the
Inspector General of each executive branch agency that classifies
information to evaluate the agency's classification program and to assess
its implementation of classification policies and procedures. The new
measure should help to bolster the oversight of the national security
classification system, which is currently the sole responsibility of the
Information Security Oversight Office.
The provision was included in the "Reducing Over-classification Act" (HR
553), which was originally introduced by Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) and amended
by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and which generally seeks to promote improved
information sharing.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2010/hr553.html
Despite its bold title, the legislation does not establish any new criteria
for assuring appropriate classification nor does it even define the term
overclassification. Yet by enlisting the Inspectors General to oversee
agency compliance with current classification policies, the bill could make
a
significant contribution to addressing the problem of wrongful or
unnecessary secrecy.
In particular, the IGs may be expected to monitor agency implementation of
the Fundamental Classification Guidance Review, the Obama Administration
initiative that is supposed to eliminate obsolete classification
requirements in each agency (as required by executive order 13526, section
1.9). To date, there is no available evidence that agencies have made any
progress in performing the Reviews, which must be completed by June 2012.
GAO GAINS A FOOTHOLD IN INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT
The Government Accountability Office seems poised to play an increased role
in intelligence oversight, despite a series of legislative setbacks and the
Obama Administration's threat of a veto earlier in the year.
The issue remains alive in the FY2010 Intelligence Authorization Act which
was approved in the Senate on September 27 and which now appears likely to
be enacted into law, due to the sustained efforts of Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
Rep. Anna Eshoo, and Sen. Daniel Akaka, among others. The Act (in section
348) requires the Director of National Intelligence to prepare a directive
on GAO access to intelligence community information -- thereby setting the
stage for a stable new role for the GAO in intelligence agency audits and
reviews.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2010_cr/sen-fy10auth.html
In a letter to Congress withdrawing the threat of a veto (reprinted in the
record of the floor debate), ODNI General Counsel Robert S. Litt stressed
that the new directive would not imply any change in existing law or
authority for the GAO. He added that the directive would also conform with
"relevant opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel." However, the only OLC
opinion on the subject is from 1988, and it argued that GAO access to
intelligence information is "precluded" by law. It hardly seems likely that
the new directive would affirm that view.
Instead, the required directive should be seen as analogous to the recently
updated Pentagon directive that permitted GAO access to highly classified
special access programs, suggested Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Senate
Intelligence Committee chair.
"The GAO has produced very useful studies" on defense intelligence matters,
said Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., at his July 20
confirmation hearing. "I think the GAO serves a useful purpose for us."
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
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